


Canary

by strikeyourcolors



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Bonding, Canon with slight alteration, Dragons, Emotions, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Pet Ownership - Freeform, Surprise Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22458238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strikeyourcolors/pseuds/strikeyourcolors
Summary: Tim's life proceeds as normal, relatively speaking. Except he has a dragon.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 276





	Canary

**Author's Note:**

> This is a silly, fluffy fic that randomly came about as I contemplated keeping dragons as pets. That's it. No darker motive. Cuteness and dragons and Tim's life implosion.

For his twelfth birthday, Tim asks for a pet bird. 

He's done his research. He's calculated the benefits and the drawbacks of each species. He's picked out a cage for it to sleep in at night and a larger aviary for when he's not home but the bird still needs to be exercised. He knows their diet, and what is safe to give them for treats. He's begun mapping out a plan to teach it tricks and how to talk, species permitting. The bird is going to be great company, and he's thrilled both when his parents are home for his birthday, and when his mother announces they are taking a special trip. 

Janet seems as excited as he is. It's rare he's seen his mother this way. She's put on a nice sundress against the oppressive July heat and Jack is wearing a white button down and khaki shorts. They look so normal that it's almost startling to Tim. There are no suits and formal gowns for an event, they aren't in travel clothes, and they aren't lounging around the house in whatever clothing they happened to grab. They've dressed up for him, and they are going on an adventure, and Tim is content enough with that even if he doesn't get a bird. 

Jack drives out of the concrete misery that is Gotham City proper. It's early enough in the day that people are still bustling about, eager to complete their errands before the heat of the day settles in and makes it all together more difficult. "Where are we going?" he asks, not for the first time, but deciding that surely now that they are on their way the mystery will be revealed. 

"It's a surprise!" Janet insists, turning around to grin at him. "Just for you, in honor of your birthday. Then we can go eat lunch wherever you want."

Tim nods, at a loss for wherever he should want to eat. He knows he'll end up pointing out a place based on its sign and hoping for the best. "We're not going to the beach, are we?" He's wearing sneakers, and he didn't bring any sunscreen. 

Jack snorts, laughing softly. He knows and shares Tim's distaste for the beach. "No, son. Your mom picked out something much better for you." 

Janet elbows him playfully. "You helped, too! It's a gift from both of us, Timmy." 

It's a half hour out of the city, in an area Tim's not familiar with. There are a lot of fields, and not a lot of civilization once they are off the main highway. At last they reach a cobblestone driveway, marked by a fancy gate and stone pillars. "This must be it," Jack remarks unnecessarily since they are already turning in. 

Tim looks out the window with more interest. It's clearly a farm. There's fencing all around, and a few ponds here and there. He can see barns in the distance and, attached to one, a good deal of netting. It looks like an aviary. He can't see anything inside, and he would have been content with a pet-store budgie, but they've brought him to a private hatchery.

They park surrounded by a surprising number of cars. Janet is barely out of the car before Tim scrambles after her, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. She seems startled at first before her hand reaches down to stroke his hair. "Oh, you know where we are now?" She teases. "I know you said you wanted a bird, but..." 

_But_ , not _and_. Tim panics for a split second before he spins back around, trying to locate the aviary he saw. He hadn't been hallucinating. Now that he's closer he can see the shapes flying around inside it. Much too large to be birds, for the most part. _Dragons_. His parents did bring him to a hatchery, but it's for _dragons_. 

He hasn't ever researched dragons in depth. He knows they are ridiculously expensive and that getting a license to own them, let alone breed them, is quite an endeavor. There are multiple breeds of dragons, ranging from the size of a guinea pig to the size of a building, though the latter has remained rare for obvious reasons. Most of the dragons Tim has seen have been about the size of horses, able to be ridden and shown off. There are a lot of those here. As he walks with his family to the main building he sees at least twenty adult and juvenile dragons of that type. There are small children on a couple; some little girls still want a pony, but the dragon market has definitely started taking over if the girl's family is rich enough. 

"Welcome to Free Flying Farms!" a woman greets them. "Do you have an appointment?"

"We're the Drakes," his dad replies. 

"We came to pick out a hatchling for our son for his birthday," Janet adds, wrapping her arm around Tim's shoulders. 

The woman smiles, overly bright. "That's great. What a lucky boy! I'm Amelia and I'll be your coordinator. Do you know what kind of dragon you're looking for?"

They all look at Tim. Tim stares back and shrugs helplessly. If he'd had time to prepare he would have some clue. As it is he can only shake his head. 

"That's okay," Amelia replies. "You can take a look around and see if any catch your attention. The actual hatchlings for sale are in Building C, but if none of those suit you then you can always be put on a waiting list." She smiles again and Tim thinks there's something even faker about this expression than about the woman herself. "Stay on the left side of the entry building and we ask for no photography anywhere but in the building with the hatchlings." 

The farm feels massive. They seem to specialize in the more common type of dragons, but that's to be expected since they are more popular to own. "Nothing too big, son," Jack says with another laugh and a ruffle of his hair. "We don't have a stable." 

"Or too small," Janet advises. "I hear they are terribly fragile. Not really suited for a young boy to rough-house with." She nudges him forward. "Go and look, Timothy. It's your dragon, after all." 

He hadn't wanted a dragon. He'd wanted a bird. He feels incredibly spoiled in the moment, because he knows a dragon is worth more than a car. A nice car. A really, _really_ nice car. The rare dragons can fetch as much as a small country, but he only knows that from a documentary he watched years ago. 

The farm has some helpful cards about each species. Some require water, others need a lot of space to roam around. Still others have a tendency to steal shiny objects from their owners. Some have fur and others feathers, but mostly they are scaled. They lay eggs like reptiles but form attachments like mammals. They raise eggs in a two parent system. 

He could spend all day learning about them, but he's eventually drawn into the building where the hatchlings are. He marvels over the newest babies who are the size of quarters, but something in their mother's face structure is unsettling. He doesn't want those beady lizard eyes following him everywhere. He spends a long time staring at the pen full of enthusiastic hatchlings, bouncing around like the golden retriever puppies they are the same size as. Those are definitely the most popular, and they thin out the twenty or so odd people in the building from looking in other areas.

They don't have any of the truly large dragons available, but he sees a picture of one that seems like a baby elephant. He feels lost amid all these choices, and not one of them is thoroughly researched. Maybe he should tell his parents he can't decide today and a waitlist would be better. But his mom is so excited, and he knows they are flying to another dig in a couple of weeks and she'd really like to see him enjoy her gift. 

He's drawn to a corner, relatively dark by comparison, and a smaller pen. The dragons in it remind him of baby chickens at first; yellow, black, and gray. They seem more like kittens than puppies, batting around a twine ball and waddling swiftly after it. They chirp and bump one another out of the way and Tim smiles a little. They are _cute_ at least. 

"That's our newest line," Amelia informs him, or his parents. Tim jumps; she seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "We were trying to breed for a pure onyx, gold, or silver. Unfortunately the failure rate was astronomical and those are the only ones to meet the criteria." 

Tim knows about selective breeding. He didn't think it was allowed to be practiced in dragons, who seem to have more sentience than even particularly smart dogs. He leans over, putting his hand in the pen. A couple of the hatchlings rush over to sniff and bat at his fingers with their tiny claws. "Is there a wait list for these? Can I wait for another clutch?" He asks, as politely as he can. He doesn't want to offend Amelia or upset his mother. 

"Those are going to be the last, I'm afraid," Amelia replies, lifting one out of the pen by its armpits. She turns the little creature over in her hands, showing it off to his parents. "There's too much variation in their coloring, like I said. They are also a strange size. They can run the gamut from very petite to actually being large enough to be ridden and we don't like that unpredictability in our lines. The breed is from Iceland. I don't believe there will be many more imports of this type." 

Tim thinks of teacup pigs, or micropigs, who turned out to be hundreds of pounds. He thinks of how they are abandoned and how difficult it is to place an animal that was spoiled while it was young and cute and rejected as an adult. He's lost in thought, hand still in the pen, when he feels a little nudge at his wrist. Sitting there, after he's long been abandoned by the other hatchlings, is a little yellow dragon. Its head is round with ears laid back, and its wings are tucked against its sides. He makes eye contact with the hatchling and it hunkers for a second, then chirps uncertainly at him.

"Pick it up," Janet encourages him. She has her camera out and is adjusting the settings. "I think it likes you." 

"She," Amelia informs them. "That one is a female. I have to warn you she barely made the cut off for her ability to be sold. She's a bit of a runt but that's probably because she doesn't fight for her share at meal times." 

Tim lifts the female dragon out of the pen, copying the way Amelia had held the other. She's cool to the touch and surprisingly heavy for such a little creature. Her eyes are huge, and a pale brown with a tiny bit of pink in the center. She chirps at him again, lifting her arms to explore his hand, her tail wrapping around his wrist. He doesn't think he can ever put her down again. 

"You said there were rejects of the program," Jack says. "What do you do with those? Any discounts?" He's joking, Tim knows, but it's in that frustrating way that makes strangers uncertain of him. 

Amelia seems to have had the question often. "They're destroyed, sir. We take the purity of our bloodline very seriously." 

Tim startles. The dragon in his hands lowers her head and tries to hide it against his skin. 

"Besides," Janet says quickly. "I already paid so they'd hold a hatchling for us! Is that the one you want, Tim?"

Amelia is all smiles again. "Oh your deposit more than covers her and a care kit as well. We offer a month-long refund policy on her since she is so imperfect, but we highly suggest you never breed her." 

Tim hasn't answered yet, but after that he nods mutely at his parents. "I want her," he responds because his father is always saying something about men needing to use their words. 

They go to fill out paperwork and collect her registration and care kit. She rides in the crook of Tim's arm the entire time, her claws tapping the buttons on his shirt. He almost doesn't want to nestle her in her carrying case but he knows it's safer to put her in the car that way. He has enough food for a week and a book about her particular species of dragon. They have a guarantee she'll survive at least the month and that, breeding projects aside, she seems relatively healthy. He's absorbed in reading about her on the drive home, with her buckled into the seat next to him. 

"What do you think she meant when she said they destroyed the rejects?" Jack asks. "It seems a little harsh." 

Janet shakes her head. "I don't know, but I'm calling the Dragon Welfare Association when we get home. It's something that needs to be checked out. It's a crime to destroy any hatchlings unless there are dire circumstances." 

Tim names his dragon Canary, after the bird he didn't get. 

Canary never grows to be bigger than a terrier. Jack and Janet are glad because they don't have to worry about her destroying their home, even if unintentionally, in their absence. Tim prefers her this size; he can tuck her into his backpack when they go on adventures. 

Her scales start to gain a pink sheen around the edges. One of the women at the dragon park coos over her and asks where he got a rose gold dragon. Tim thinks she looks more like a grapefruit than like jewelry. He approves of the variation, of the utter failure in her appearance for something her breeder tried to control. He smears her with charcoal, anyway, on the nights when he decides to go out to wait for vigilantes to make an appearance. Her golden scales glint too brightly in the light and he can't put a sweater over her wings without her getting upset. Even if she suddenly darkened, he thinks he would still rub her down with dust for the fierce, determined expression she gets because she knows Tim is doing something he's not supposed to be and is eager to join him. 

He teaches her to sing like her namesake and her chirps are cute, if not particularly melodic like an actual bird. She learns to count quickly and Tim is surprised when she can read basic words and understand more complex verbal commands. Dragons are smart, normally, but she seems particularly bright. It suits him well; he's constantly talking to her and only realizes how that might be construed as odd one night when his mother asks him if he gets terribly lonely while they are away. Canary is better than most human company. 

Canary lets him wonder when one Robin disappears and another shows up, fairly early on in their photographic stalking. She agrees that Batman is Bruce Wayne. She trots along beside him when he wanders the edges of the Wayne grounds, ready to pretend to go dashing off at a moment's notice if he needs an excuse to run.

She understands how he feels when the second Robin dies, when Tim starts thinking of him as Jason, and mourns for someone he never really knew. He feels foolish over it, but Canary trills sadly to him and nuzzles his hands. She always liked Jason a particular amount, perking up and huffing excitedly when he would swing by. Tim thought at first it was due to other dragons in their household, but she'd never had that reaction to Dick.

It inspires him to want to be Robin. When he starts training she runs behind him, nipping at his ankles. She sits on his back for extra-weight during pushups. She comforts him when Bruce refuses him time and time again, and she celebrates with him when Batman finally agrees. 

Canary is his constant when his mom dies, and when his dad is injured. When he moves into the Manor she obviously comes with him. At first he's concerned; Dick's dragon is still in the Manor. He's a big dragon, probably the size of an Irish wolfhound. His scales look like an oil slick in a rainbow of colors and his name is Brightlights, which Bruce repeats with a grim set to his mouth that only comes from what happens when a child names something. He finds his choice of name for Canary amusing, and it isn't long until Tim figures out why and insists she's named after the actual bird.

It turns out Canary rules Brightlights with an iron claw, and he really had nothing to worry about. "Jason's was like that too," Bruce informs him as they watch Canary trying to climb Brightlights. "Same breed as Canary."

"Did she-?" Tim begins and then thinks of how tactless it would be to ask if the explosion that killed his son also killed his dragon. "Where is she?"

Bruce sighs, turning away. "She disappeared. Let herself out one night and we never found her. We offered a reward and searched everywhere but she never turned up." 

Tim wonders if he counts it as another failure; Jason dead and his prized pet gone. He doesn't bring up Jason's dragon again, but he takes a secret joy in the fact that he'd had one similar to Canary.

She comforts him when he truly becomes an orphan. She transitions from house to house with him seamlessly. She's perfect. 

He maybe wishes she were a bit bigger when Jason stabs him. It's the crushing of a lot of childhood fantasies and when the man tries to slit his throat, Tim's about to let him. Canary dives on top of him, the little dragon shrieking her rage and clawing and biting him in all the areas she can reach. She'll defend him with her life and she nearly does that night. 

"The fuck?" Jason snarls, grabbing her and throwing her hard, into a wall. He seems to process what she is as she drags herself back to her feet, and looks stricken. Not, Tim reflects, for what he did to a human but for what he almost did to a dragon like his own. 

Tim keeps Canary away from Jason, after that. He stops taking her in the field all together which upsets her, but she's far safer out of the line of fire and he couldn't stand to lose her. A broken wing is bad enough. 

It's why he's surprised when he starts seeing a dragon in the field again, Canary-shaped, but covered in little bits of armor. He realizes soon enough that Red Hood has a pet dragon and it is as talented as Canary at opening doors and breaking through skylights. Canary's breed isn't common; could it really be that Jason's dragon found him again?

It is, strangely, out of costume when they run into each other. They're both at a dragon park with their respective pets when their gazes meet across a fenced area. Tim sticks his chin up; he's not leaving. He was here first. He can see by the look in Jason's eyes that he's not about to back down either. 

Jason isn't murderous toward him anymore, but Tim wouldn't say they are friends or even up to small talk in the dragon park. 

At least not until Canary lets out a shriek and goes charging over toward him. Tim panics a little; she probably wants another chance to scratch his eyes out and he kind of agrees with her. But he runs after her, desperately trying to compensate for the bursts of speed her wings give her. She veers at the last moment, going _around_ Jason, leaving Tim to nearly crash into the larger man since he's running full-tilt after her. 

Canary isn't after the man, she's after his dragon. It screams in response, but it isn't in fear. The two of them roll around on the ground, trilling and singing to one another in a frightening display Tim has neither seen nor heard before. But neither one seems to be in pain. "What the fuck are they doing?" Jason demands. 

"Maybe they're...in love?" Tim offers, helpless, because it does kind of look like a mating dance even if Canary has never expressed any interest at all in a mate. 

"Eilonwy is a girl too," Jason snaps back, trying to approach them. 

Eilonwy is definitely his dragon from before, Tim decides. Up close she's a hideous color; she was probably silver once but now her scales are turning green and pink both. You can't replicate that shade or pattern. "They can be lesbians," Tim argues. He'd meant to say that dragons could be lesbians, but he doubles down and adds, "Don't shame them!" 

A man Tim's seen before with quite a few dragons smiles indulgently as he scoops Canary off the ground to return her to Tim, walking toward him with her since she seemed so intent to stay just out of his reach. "Always nice to see a pair of sisters having fun. They so rarely get to see their hatchmates." 

"Sisters?" Tim questions helplessly. 

"That display is reserved for their siblings," the man replies. "Sorry, I'm butting into your business. I do dragon rescue, and—" 

"Don't shame your lesbian, incestuous dragon," Jason cuts in, looking far too amused with his little quip even if he's still trying to snatch Eilonwy who is just small enough to avoid his grasp. 

Tim accepts Canary back from the stranger, his mind boggling. "Did you get yours from Free Flying Farms?"

Jason swipes at his dragon. She bites his finger and dashes between his legs. "Fuck, no. I found her in an alley. Someone had thrown her out. I assume for being ugly and a bitch, but she was less of a bitch then." 

Eilonwy responds by climbing Jason like a tree, giving him a series of scolding chirps before her gaze goes back to Canary. Tim tightens his grip on the wiggling little dragon and recalls, suddenly, how baby dragons at that farm were disposed of for not meeting the breed standard. Escaped or dumped, Eilonwy has to be from the same clutch as Canary.

It's clear, however, that Jason loves the dragon. From her armor to the genuine affection he expresses settling her in the crook of one arm. Surely someone who cares about a pet that much can't be all bad. And, not for the first time in his life, he knows Canary can be a bridge. "Does Eilonwy like to eat shrimp?"

Jason side eyes him, but both dragons perk up upon hearing the word. "She may have robbed several fish markets but if questioned, I'll deny it." He pauses. "Does your—" 

"Canary," Tim supplies. 

Jason smirks. "Does Canary sleep in the sink?"

This is a shaky foundation to build a connection on and Tim knows it. But it's something, and that's better than nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments, reviews, and prompts! Below or [here ](http://strikeyourcolors.tumblr.com/ask)please. Thanks for reading.


End file.
